Apparatus for shooting a projectile shaped additive into molten steel

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for projecting bullet shaped additive materials into molten steel. The apparatus has two hoppers for holding the bullet-shaped additive materials and delivering them successively. A pair of rotary feeders having spaced elongated grooves receive the materials supplied from the hoppers and are rotated intermittently a distance corresponding to the pitch of the elongated grooves through use of a Geneva gear mechanism. A gas controlling device connected to a source of gas under pressure controls the supply of gas synchronously with the rotating motion of the rotary feeders to supply the gas to a pair of projectile guiding pipes which shoot the bullet shaped additive materials into a molten steel bath.

United States Patent 1191 Imazu Apr. 9, 1974 APPARATUS FOR SHOOTING A PROJECTILE SHAPED ADDITIVE INTO MOLTEN STEEL 21 Appl. No; 254,045

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [58] Field of Search 124/11 R, 13 R, 48, 51 R; 42/39.5; 89/11, 7, 13 R, 33 A, 33 BA, 33 M, 155, 156, 157; 266/28, 34 T; 302/2 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,341 11/1936 Aigner 124/11 R 3,503,300 3/1970 Dardick 89/33 MC X 10/1950 Sherman I l24/llR 6/1958 Kocietal 124/13R 3,695,246 10/1972 Filippi et a1 124/11 R 2,893,716 7/1959 Smith 266/34 T 3,337,138 8/1967 Brown, Jr. et a1 266/34 T X 1,217,553 2/1917 Beatty 124/13 R 3,411,827 11/1968 Rupert 302/2 R Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Richard T. Stoulfer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack 57 ABSTRACT Apparatus for projecting bullet shaped additive materials into molten steel. The apparatus has two hoppers for holding the bullet-shaped additive materials and delivering them successively. A pair of rotary feeders having spaced elongated grooves receive the materials supplied from the hoppers and are rotated intermittently a distance corresponding to the pitch of the elongated grooves through use of a Geneva gear mechanism. A gas controlling device connected to a source of gas under pressure controls the supply of gas synchronously with the rotating motion of the rotary feeders to supply the gas to a pair of projectile guiding pipes which shoot the bullet shaped additive materials into a molten steel bath.

1 Claim, 14 Drawing Figures T0 SOURCE 25' OF PRESSURE GAS SHEET 1 0F 7 PATENTED APR 9 I974 PATENTEDAPR 9 mm- 3802 407 saw 2 0f 7 PATENTED APR 9 I974 SHEET 5 0F 7 PATENTEDAPR 9 I974 MEI 70F 7 APPARATUS FOR SHOOTING A PROJECTILE SHAPED ADDITIVE INTO MOLTEN STEEL The present invention relates to an apparatus to supply addition material into molten steel in an iron manufacturing facility.

In iron manufacturing facilities addition material such as aluminum and the like is thrown into molten metal for making special steel or to carry out deoxidation. The addition material is thrown in after being weighed from the metallurgical standpoint, but when thrown in manually as heretofore, the addition material used never penetrates into the interior of the molten steel due to the specific weight of the addition material, and accordingly, steel having uniform composition throughout can not be manufactured, that is, mottles might be created in the steel. Moreover, a part of the addition material thrown in is impeded in its movement into the steel by floating slag and is burnt uselessly, and thereby problems such that the desired object of the addition can not be carried out and the like will remain unsolved. The problem as above described can be overcome by providing means for projecting addition material into the steel, and the object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which functions efficiently as such a means. Namely, the present invention comprises forming addition material such as aluminum and the like into a bullet-shape and then successively projecting a required quantity of addition material in such bullet shape into molten steel, and particularly provides a device which is operable to synchronize the supply and projecting of addition material to, that is, to shoot a required quantity of addition material into the steel in a short time. The invention also comprises a device which uses pressure gas efficiently as a power source for throwing in the addition material and a device provided with an automatic counting function to control the quantity of addition material thrown in.

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a general side view of the apparatus provided with a gun-barrel for projecting addition material.

FIG. 2 is a section on line IIII in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section on line IIIIII in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section on line IVI V in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the disassembled essential part of the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a general plan of a modified form of the apparatus according to the invention which is provided with two gun-barrels for throwing in addition material.

FIG. 7 is a front view thereof. FIG. 8 is a front view showing the relation of the operating mechanism for performing intermittent motion.-

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing the operation of the rotary feeder for taking out the addition material and of the solenoid valve.

FIG. 10 is a partial section showing the relationship between the seal plate and the rotary feeder.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinally sectioned view showing thehermetic mechanism.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged section to show clearly a part of said hermetic mechanism.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged section of the seal plate, and FIG. 14 is a view of the inside of the same.

Now, initially the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5 will be explained. A hopper 2 is provided for receiving bullet-shaped bodies 1 of addition material (hereunder, called the addition material). A rotary feeder 3 is located below said hopper 2 and provided with elongated grooves which are U-shaped in section and are at an equal pitch on the circumference thereof to receive and hold the bodies 1 of addition material. A projectile holding device 5 (hereinafter called the holding portion) is positioned between two end walls 8 and'9 and has a cover portion 10 thereover and sealed to the end walls. A gunbarrel 6 has the rear end mounted in front end wall 8. Front and rear end walls 8 and 9 have a supporting shaft 7 extending therebetween on which the rotary feeder 3 is mounted. A gas controlling device 12 connected with a pressure gas source (not shown), has a pressure gas outlet opening into a pressure gas port 11 in rear end wall 9 in a position coaxial with the axis of said gun-barrel. Controlling device 12 is attached to the rear end wall 9. The front and rear end walls 8 and 9 are attached to a supporting member 13. The upper portion of the rear end of the gun-barrel 6 abuts the end surface of the cover portion 10 so that the outer part of the bore is aligned with the inner surface of the cover 10. The gun-barrel is also supported on a bracket 14 fixed to the supporting member 13 at a suitable intermediate position and said supporting member 13 is longitudinally slidably mounted on a stand 15. A reaction absorbing device 16 is provided for damping the movement of the supporting member 13 due to the reaction caused by projecting the addition material.

The rotary feeder 3 is to be rotated intermittently, and therefore, at one end of the supporting shaft 7 is provided a first Geneva gear mechanism 19 shown in FIG. 2 having a driven wheel 17 having radial grooves equal in number to the elongated grooves 4 of the feeder 3 and a driving wheel 18 having a pin thereon. The rotary feeder 3 is rotated intermittently by one pitch of the elongated grooves upon the rotation of the driving wheel 18. The size of the elongated grooves 4 of'said rotary feeder 3 is to be determined according to that of the addition material 1, but it is most preferable to give the addition material 1 and the rotary feeder 3 sizes so that the addition material 1 when it is in the groove 4 lies within the outer periphery of the rotary feeder 3. Said elongated grooves 4 are successively located at positions below the hopper 2 for receiving bodies 1 of the addition material from the hopper 2 and the rotary feeder 3 is then rotated to move the grooves 4 to the position for projecting the bodies 1, that is, between the gun-barrel 6 and the port 11 for pressure gas. The apparatus is constructed so that all the axes (center lines) of the grooves 4 are squared perfectly on a level and simultaneously and they are locked in their successive positions with the driving wheel 18 of the Geneva gear mechanism.

Said gas controlling device 12 acts to supply or cut off the supply of the pressure gas synchronously with the rotation of the rotary feeder 3. One embodiment of said gas controlling device 12 is provided with a rotary valve 21 in the form of a disc in which are disposed a plurality of vent holes 20 equal in number to the number of elongated grooves 4 in said rotary feeder 3 and on a common circle and which disc is rotated intermittently by a second Geneva gear mechanism 19. The driving wheels 18 of the respective Geneva gear mechanisms 19 are rotated interlockedly by a common driving source and reduction gear mechanism (not shown) to carry out the rotation and stoppage of the rotary valve 21 synchronously with said rotary feeder 3.

Because the rotary valve 21 is rotated together with the rotary feeder 3, while the rotary feeder 3 transfers the bodies 1 of addition material from the supply position to the projecting position, the gas passage 11 is shut off, and when the rotary feeder 3 is stopped after a rotation of one pitch, a vent hole 20 of the rotary valve 21 is aligned with the port 11 in the rear side wall 9 and the pressure gas is directed against the rear end surface of the bullet-shaped body 1 of addition material. At this point, there is a clearance between the cross-section of the elongated groove 4 which is U- shape in section and the cover portion 10 and the body 1 of addition material, and the pressure gas tends to leak through the gun-barrel 6 through this clearance, but when the body of addition material advances through the gunbarrel 6, said clearance is closed, and the time of leakage is extremely short and the leakage causes no trouble in practice. However, this problem may be overcome perfectly by another embodiment described later. The body 1 of addition material projected as above described, is shot into the molten steel in the ladle 24 by slanting the gun-barrel 6 or through a suitable guide 23. A switching valve 25 for the pressure gas supply is provided for shutting off the supply of pressure gas and additionally controlling the flow rate of the pressure gas.

FIG. 6 through FIG. 8 show an improved apparatus provided with 2 gun-barrels to project the addition material more efficiently and also for counting the number of bodies 1 of addition material to be projected. Rotary feeders 3 and 3a, like that of FIGS. 1-5, juxtaposed on the same level are rotated intermittently in opposite directions by a motor 26 and a stepless reduction gear through a intermittent transmission 27 such as a Geneva gear mechanism and the like. To the holding portions 5 are connected supply pipes 28 and 28a for pressure gas and the supply and shut off of gas is controlled by solenoid valves 29 and 29a. A reflector and an opposed receiver A and B for a photoelectric relay means are located near the front ends of the gun-barrels 6 and 6a, and the bodies of addition material projected from both gun-barrels 6 and 6a are counted as they pass between the reflector and receiver A and B. When bodies of addition material are projected simultaneously from both gun-barrels 6 and 6a, only one is counted by said reflector and receiver A and B notwithstanding that two bodies of addition material have been projected. However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, an alternate rotating mechanism is provided within the intermittent transmission gear 27. Namely, as shown in the same drawing, a driving shaft 30 has a lock disc 31 mounted integrally thereon and also at the end of a driving arm 32 fixed on said driving shaft 30 is provided a driving pin 33. Driven wheels 34 and 34a are disposed facing each other, with said lock disc 31 therebetween, and have arc-shaped surface 35 and 35a thereon against which the outer periphery of the lock disc 31 is closely fitted. Notches 36, 36a in which the driving pin is fittable are formed at equal intervals around wheels 34 and 34a. On the shafts 37 and 37a of said driven wheels 34 and 34a are fixed pinions 38 and 39 respectively, one pinion 38 driving one rotary feeder 3 by meshing with a gear 40 thereon, and the other pinion 39 driving the other rotary feeder 3a by meshing with a direction switching gear 41 and an intermediate gear 42 mounted on the same shaft with gear 41 meshing with a large gear 43 on rotary feeder 3a.

Now, assuming that in FIG. 8 the driving shaft 30 is rotated counterclockwise, initially the driven wheel 34 is rotated one pitch, and then after a time interval the driven wheel 34a is rotated one pitch, such intermittent rotating operation being repeated alternately. That is, the shafts 44 and 45 connected to the rotary feeders 3 and 3a are driven to rotate by the aforesaid rotation, so that thereby the respective elongated grooves 4 and 4a of the rotary feeders 3 and 3a are alternately brought into the projecting positions. During the time when the respective driven wheels 34 and 34a are not rotated, that is, the idle time thereof, the solenoid valves 29 and 290 are actuated alternately to project the bodies of addition material from the gun-barrels 6 and 6a alternately.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating the operation of the rotary feeders 3 and 3a. A time T elapses from the time when the mechanism is in the condition shown in FIG. 8, thereafter the rotary feeder is rotated during a time T one pitch thereof and the solenoid valve 27 is actuated during the idle time T to project a body of the addition material located in the elongated groove 4 positioned in the projecting position of the rotary feeder 3. And then, when the idle time T has elapsed, the rotary feeder 3a is rotated for a time T and is rotated one pitch and in the next idletime T the solenoid valve 270 is actuated and the body of addition material located in the elongated groove 4a positioned in the projecting position of the rotary feeder 3a is projected. Thus bodies of addition material are projected from the two gun-barrels 6 and 6a alternately during the time lags as described above, and by such projecting means, efficient shooting of the bodies of addition material and counting thereof by means of the reflector and receiver A and B are carried out. Thus correct and rapid shooting of the addition material may be accomplished.

FIGS. 10 through 14 illustrate a sealing mechanism for effectively sealing the pressure gas serving as the power source for projecting the bodies of addition material. As shown in FIG. 10, a seal plate 46 is placed against the outside surface of feeders 3 and 3a and the elongated grooves 4 and 4a of the rotary feeders 3 and 3a are sealed perfectly as they pass the seal plate 46 to prevent the pressure gas from leaking laterally around the rotary feeders. Substantially all the gas supplied acts on the rear end surface of the body 1 of addition material. Said seal plate 46 is clamped on the upper portion of a stand 47 by the bolt 49 extending through the keeper plate 48. Seal covers 50 are located at both ends of the elongated grooves 4 sealed with said seal plate 46. As shown in FIG. 11, a supporting plate 51 carrying the pressure gas supply pipe 28 is provided at one end of the rotory feeder and a supporting plate 52 carrying the guiding pipe for the bodies of addition material, that is, the gun-barrel 6 is provided at the other end. These elements are at the projecting position. A seal ring 53 is pressed against each seal cover 50 by coil springs 54. One seal ring 53 and the construction near thereto are shown in FIG. 12 and as is apparent from the drawing, the front surface which contacts the seal cover 50 is smaller than the rear surface thereof contacted by the coil spring 54. In a groove on the periphery of the seal ring 53 is fitted an O-ring 55. Accordingly, the power applied to the seal ring 53 by the coil spring 54 does not act on the wider portion of the seal cover 50 and thereby an increase of the rotational resistance of the rotary feeder 3 can be prevented. As pressure is applied by the gas supplied from the pressure gas supply pipe at the time when the addition material is projected, a stronger force than that on the rear surface of said seal ring 53 is applied on the front surface thereof and the front surface is pressed against the seal cover 50, and because one end of the seal ring 53 is narrower as above described the pressure never exerts an unfavourable effect on the rotation of the rotary feeder 3.

In FIG. 13 is shown the cross sectional form of the seal plate 46, and as is apparent from the drawing, it is constructed with a metallic base plate 56 and a flexible member 57 thereon. On the inner surface 58 facing the rotary feeder 3, as shown in FIG. 14 a recessed portion 60 is formed in the central portion and strip contacting portions 59 on both ends thereof, and also at the upper and lower sides of the recessed portion 60 are formed projecting edges 61 respectively. The projected edges 61 are slanted inward, and usually that is, except for the time when the bodies of addition material are being projected said contacting portions 59 and the edges 61 lightly contact the exterior circumferential surface of the rotary feeder 3. And when the bodies of addition material are projected edges 61 are pressed outward by the pressure gas supplied and they contact the exterior circumferential end edge portions of the elongated groove 4 of the rotary feeder 3 and prevent the gas from leaking.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for projecting bullet-shaped bodies of addition material into molten metal, comprising two hoppers for holding the bullet-shaped bodies of addition material and successively delivering the bodies, two rotary feeders, each having spaced elongated grooves extending longitudinally on the peripheral surface thereof for receiving said bodies of addition material supplied from the respective hoppers, a gas controlling device mounted adjacent one end of each rotary feeder and connected to a source of pressure gas and having means for directing pressure gas along a groove positioned at a projecting position of each rotary feeder spaced along the periphery of the feeder from the hopper, a projectile guiding pipe at the other end of each of said rotary feeders aligned with said pressure gas directing means for shooting said bodies of addition material during the flow of pressure gas, and means coupled to said rotary feeders for intermittently rotating each of said rotary feeders an amount corresponding to one pitch of the elongated grooves from said hopper to said projecting position, said means comprising an intermittent transmission mechanism, a Geneva gear coupled to each of said rotary feeders and driven by said intermittent transmission alternately, and said gas controlling device being coupled to said rotating means for releasing pressure gas when said rotary feeders are stopped. 

1. An apparatus for projecting bullet-shaped bodies of addition material into molten metal, comprising two hoppers for holding the bullet-shaped bodies of addition material and successively delivering the bodies, two rotary feeders, each having spaced elongated grooves extending longitudinally on the peripheral surface thereof for receiving said bodies of addition material supplied from the respective hoppers, a gas controlling device mounted adjacent one end of each rotary feeder and connected to a source of pressure gas and having means for directing pressure gas along a groove positioned at a projecting position of each rotary feeder spaced along the periphery of the feeder from the hopper, a projectile guiding pipe at the other end of each of said rotary feeders aligned with said pressure gas directing means for shooting said bodies of addition material during the flow of pressure gas, and means coupled to said rotary feeders for intermittently rotating each of said rotary feeders an amount corresponding to one pitch of the elongated grooves from said hopper to said projecting position, said means comprising an intermittent transmission mechanism, a Geneva gear coupled to each of said rotary feeders and driven by said intermittent transmission alternately, and said gas controlling device being coupled to said rotating means for releasing pressure gas when said rotary feeders are stopped. 